We 1 (1-02) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released January 23, 2002, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" call Mark E. Miller at (202)720-7621, office hours 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Weather Summary Volume 89, No. 4 January 13 - 19, 2002 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Cold weather prevailed across California and the Intermountain West, holding weekly temperatures as much as 7 degrees F below normal. From January 16-21, low temperatures generally ranged from 26 to 36 degrees F in California's San Joaquin Valley, slowing winter grain development but causing little or no harm to the valley's citrus crop. Meanwhile, mostly dry weather prevailed in northern California, the Great Basin, and the Northwest, following frequently heavy, drought-easing precipitation from mid-November to early January. Farther south, persistent dryness brought increasing summer water-supply concerns to the Four Corners region. Mild, dry weather also prevailed across the Plains and Midwest, maintaining low levels of livestock stress and favoring off-season fieldwork. However, most winter wheat fields on the Plains were lacking in snow cover and in need of moisture to prevent damage due to wind erosion and potential temperature extremes. Bitterly cold air remained locked across central Canada, though, allowing weekly temperatures to range from 5 to 13 degrees F above normal in the Corn Belt. Meanwhile, drought-easing precipitation aided pastures and winter grains across the Southeast for the third consecutive week. Farther north, late-week snowfall blanketed areas from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast, reducing long-term precipitation deficits in the latter region. Some locations in the San Joaquin Valley reported sub-freezing temperatures on 6 consecutive mornings from January 16-21. Bakersfield, CA, which noted four freezes during the period, experienced lows ranging from 27 (on January 19) to 34 degrees F. The cold weather was not without some benefit, providing much-needed "chill hours" for fruit trees. Farther south, daily-record lows on January 19 included 15 degrees F in Douglas, AZ, and 26 degrees F in Thermal, CA. Meanwhile, late-week showers accompanied a return to warm weather in the Southeast. On Saturday in Georgia, Macon posted a daily record-tying high of 76 degrees F, while Atlanta netted 1.87 inches of rain, their highest 1-day total since 2.86 inches fell on June 1, 2001. Farther north, Jackson, KY, received a daily-record snowfall (5.6 inches) on January 19, while storm-total snowfall reached 6.0 inches in Worcester, MA, 5.0 inches in Bridgeport, CT, and 4.0 inches in Philadelphia, PA. Earlier in the week, a previous storm system had blanketed northern New England with snow, leaving locally as much as 20 inches in Maine's Aroostook and Penobscot Counties. Storm-total (January 13-14) snowfall reached 7.3 inches in Caribou, ME. Farther west, however, season-to-date snowfall through January 19 remained less than 5 inches in such Midwestern locations as Des Moines, IA (2.0 inches), Rockford, IL (3.0 inches), and LaCrosse, WI (4.1 inches). On the Plains, frequently gusty winds and mostly bare soils left much of the winter wheat crop exposed. In Cut Bank, MT, wind gusts higher than 40 mph were clocked on 10 of the first 20 days in January, with gusts above 60 mph on January 7, 8, 12, and 20. High winds also swept across the Colorado Front Range on January 20, producing peak gusts to 93 mph in Larimer County, near Estes Park. A storm system drifted westward across Hawaii toward week's end, triggering locally heavy showers. In Pukalani, Maui, where January precipitation averages 4.40 inches, rainfall totaled 2.81 inches in 48 hours from January 18-20. Other 48-hour totals during the same period included 3.41 inches in Kokee, Kauai, and 5.69 inches in Laupahoehoe, on the Big Island. Meanwhile, cold weather nearly vanished from Alaska, propelling weekly temperatures more than 30 degrees F at some interior locations. On January 15, high temperatures reached 44 degrees F in Anchorage and King Salmon. Significant precipitation was observed across much of western and southern Alaska, where January 1-20 snowfall reached 22.5 inches in McGrath and 20.7 inches in Nome. During the same period, precipitation totaled 11.06 inches on Kodiak Island. National Agricultural Summary January 14 - 20, 2001 A winter storm developed over the lower Mississippi River Valley, moved eastward over the interior Southeast, then tracked northward through the Appalachians and Atlantic Coast States. The storm delivered much-needed moisture, mostly in the form of snow, to winter crops on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The cold weather also provided beneficial chill hours for peach and citrus orchards throughout the Southeast. Temperatures were not cold enough to damage trees or unharvested fruit in Florida's citrus region, but the wet weather temporarily halted field and orchard work in most areas of the State. In southern areas of the Florida peninsula, the sugarcane harvest and work in vegetable fields continued with little delay. Meanwhile, the Corn Belt and Great Plains remained mostly dry, with above-normal temperatures prevailing most of the week. In Texas, dry weather supported fieldwork but hindered development of winter wheat and forage crops across most of the State. Cool weather slowed growth of winter crops in California, but nighttime temperatures did not remain below freezing long enough to damage citrus trees and unharvested fruit. Abundant moisture supported growth of winter crops during the warmer daytime hours. Vegetable growers ran irrigation systems to protect delicate leafy crops from sub-freezing overnight lows. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released after 12 p.m. ET on January 29, 2002. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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